You are correct. Spending a couple of hundred dollars on the "proper" safety
equipment when you only climb once a year may not make sense. Most funerals do
cost less than most tower installations, so why add to the cost! To me, the
second sentence pointedly indicates why you do need to spend the money, you
only climb the tower once a year and therefore are not as much of an expert as
one who does it for a living. As one poster mentioned, you should see the
effects to the human body when only a belt is worn and it arrests a fall. Up
to 5,000 pounds of force is applied to the body (300 lb. person) when the fall
is abruptly stopped. Shock absorbing lanyards (the prescursors to bungee
jumping) reduce that force to around 500 pounds and a properly fitted full body
harness distributes that force to the strongest bones in the body, i.e. the
hips. Hang on and good luck. My full body harness with side mounted D-rings
only cost me around $75 which is cheap insurance in my book.
Be safe, Phil KB9CRY
> I don't think there's any law whatsoever (even here in the east!) that
> mandates
> what
> kind of belt to use, or to use one at all on your own property. It may be
> an
> Federal OSHA
> rule
> for commercial outfits, but certainly not for homeowner/hams repairing their
> own
> towers.
> Give the government enough time and they'll find a way to tax and regulate it
> however! :-)
>
> While I agree that a properly outfitted harness/fall arrest system is the way
> to
> go, I'd
> suspect
> that the vast majority of hams use a belt sytem only. This may or may not
> make
> sense if
> you're climbing a tower once in a blue moon.... the risk/reward depends on
> the
> individual
> situation.
>
> As in many situations, how safe you are can depend a lot on how much you can
> afford
> to spend (all other things being equal).
>
> John
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather
> Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
> and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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